In a world where originality is just a pipe dream, this thrilling horror, Life Eater has me hooked with its unique puzzles of deduction and its insanely creative time management system. It is not often that a game grabs you from the very homescreen. (Ironic that this game is about abduction.)
Life Eater is another unique game from the creators of El Paso everywhere. From the looks of it we can expect nothing but creative genius from these people moving forward.
But for now, let us dive into the gloomy and bloody world of Life Eater.
Hello, Mr. Stalker
Throughout Life Eater, you play as a stalker, stalking his eventual victims. The gameplay has two parts: Stalking and… well, we will get to the second one in a bit…
Firstly, you have to chart the weekly routine of your victims. Imagine the timeline of a page of any major video editing software and now imagine the numbering on this timeline to be 24 hours long. Every time you click a section of this timeline, you are shown 3 options, each giving you more information on the victim. The better the information, the higher the notoriety cost and time cost.
On the top of the screen, you will have two things to watch out for, notoriety and time.
For every move you make, you lose the amount of time that was given by the game. So you must gather as much information as possible before time runs out.
As for notoriety, you are given a set of tasks you can do, instead of stalking, to bring it back down. This, of course, costs time that you must manage well. If notoriety goes too high, your are caught and get a game over screen.
There are also special buffs and items that make you use less time or make a move without increasing notoriety which make this game even more interesting.
Knife to the heart…
Info gathered and the time spent, we now go to the second part of the game, The ritual of death. You will be shown the inside of your victims’ body, post kidnapping. You are tasked to break or steal parts of the body but not randomly… no!
Remember all that information that we had gathered, well, now you take a test. That is right… This puzzle game is also a memory game!
The process, while harrowing, is still quite simple: ‘If your victim uses the bathroom more than 3 hours a day, take his left lung, If he has no friends, break rib #6, if he owns a car, take his pancreas, etc.’
As disgusting as its sounds, it slowly takes hold of you and makes you want to get them all right. Makes you want to make the most of this gameplay loop.
Duh…Life Eater
The story follows the protagonist, a trucker, who receives a command from a deity called Zimforth once every year. This command is to find and kill a person or persons that fit a certain criteria.(hence all the stalking)
The story, while sounding like it was written by a sullen teen, does come off as very unsettling and disturbing. This is especially due to the brilliantly animated, scripted and performed cutscenes that make you feel like you are a part of this spine chilling tale.
Without giving away any spoilers, I could say that throughout the playthrough, you’ll find yourself questioning whether Zimforth exists or if it’s all in our protagonist’s head, which is a frightening thought in itself.
Even after finishing up, the plot still lingers in your mind and leaves you unsettled in all the right ways. Heck, I finished my playthrough a while ago and still got one of the most frightening nightmares I could imagine, all thanks to this little game.
Niggles
While a lot of fun is to be had in Life Eater, it does come with some issues. Here we return to the brilliant main mechanic of the stalking system and dramtically say that it is all this game has. Well that and the test.(but I would not call it a game mechanic)
Seeing only this style of gameplay throughout LifeEater eventually has you hoping for a conclusion way before the game is ready to end.
Another issue was the tutorial, where a more visual aid would have been more useful. Instead, Life Eater has you reading through a manual which can get quite annoying.
Okay… What else? Yes!
You are only allowed one fail in the test and if you fail the second time, the game asks you to restart. This takes you all the way back to the start of the round. Meaning you have to do the long stalking section once more from the very beginning. They do switch around the information that can be collected to keep it fresh but it still does not quench the frustration and disappointment that you feel having to redo all your hard work.
A novelty piece
The grandness of such a scary game generates excitement, but a simple overview suggests that it alone does not feel sufficient to be a standalone game. I can see this being a mission on a much larger project, hoping to add flavour but by itself, it is just what it is… a good idea.
An Innovation in the world of gaming
Life Eater might not be perfect, but the eerie tale and immersive gameplay make it stand out. With its clever puzzles and time management system, it grabs your attention right from the start. It shows the creativity of its developers and gives players a memorable experience.
Whether you’re intrigued by its horror story or enjoy a challenge, Life Eater is a game worth exploring.
